The Finale Story
by LisaDouglas
Summary: An alternate ending, because I thought the real ending was kind of weak and didn't give closure to the story all that well. In this ending, each character deals with something they've been putting off throughout the course of the series like Emily giving up matchmaking . P.S. as a general warning, a 70's sitcom would never end this way, but a 90's one totally would have!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: I have some big news for you!

Bob Hartley was thinking back several months to the day that changed the course of his life more dramatically than any other day that had ever preceded it, and wondered if he and Emily had done the right thing. Now that it was all coming to a head, he had to acknowledge the fact that it was too late to debate any of it or take it back. And that was difficult. For a man who had spent his life helping other people through change, Bob was unusually resistant to it himself.

A little less than a year before, Emily had initiated a set of changes, that Bob was not happy about when she'd insisted that they move from their comfortable, homey fifth floor apartment to a larger, posher place on the building's top floor. He had thought he'd always feel at home wherever he was with Emily, but he soon found out he was more than wrong about that.

You know what they say, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. So Bob made the decision to run. Or rather, change their lives completely. And I know what you're thinking…Bob would never…_**leave**_ Emily would he? Well no. Bob knew he could only be home when he was with Emily…it was like the one romantic thing about him. But Chicago….the practice…everything, while they were at it, just wasn't…satisfying for him anymore.

He wanted to teach so he began applying for teaching jobs at small colleges where he and Emily could move out to the country, spend more time together and maybe he could write, start a business like an inn or something…those were always things he had had an interest in doing.

Now that Jerry had dropped his bombshell, he was seriously contemplating whether he'd done the right thing to Emily all those months before, in just suddenly announcing that they were moving across country. He now felt so guilty about how much stress the impending move had put on her. Bob looked up from his place on the couch when he heard someone slam his front door.

"Oh, hi Howard. What's new with you?"

"Well I've come to a decision, so it looks like I have some news for you guys."

"Oh." Bob was really listening now. Howard had been mulling over something for days. But he wasn't sure what it was.

It was as though everyone in his life had news for him lately. Emily's was the scariest, his own was the dumbest now that he thought of it, Jerry's was sad, Carol's was exciting and Howard's…well Bob expected that Howard's might really be the dumbest. He was just glad Mrs. Bakerman had been kidding about that sex change operation. But Emily who was listening in the den suspected that Howard's news might possibly be the most romantic and not the dumbest.

"News?!" Emily asked excitedly as she came back into the living room. "Howard, what news? Is it about you and Ellen?"

"Emily!" Bob cautioned. He hated it when his wife played matchmaker, it usually put him in a bad spot. "Don't push him into it."

"I'm not pushing him into anything Bob."

"Well actually she's just perceptive. It is about Ellen."

"See I told you." Emily smiled.

"No you didn't. I did Emily." Howard corrected, missing the point completely, Bob would miss that about his friend that was for sure.

"What is it Howard?" Bob asked.

"I'm going to Cleveland, I'm going after her!"

"Howard that's so romantic." Emily sniffled. She'd been overly sensitive lately.

"Why? She left you, Howard." Bob reminded. "A year ago."

Bob knew his sister had real feelings for Howard, but on that same note, had no desire to become anybody's wife…just like he had no desire to become anybody's father…and probably for the same reason.

"Honey, why now?" Emily asked Howard.

"Well, I guess because of what you're doing here. With you guys leaving me, and moving across country, starting a new life. And little Howie growing up…he's going to be fourteen soon…and I just realized…I love her! I've never been this crazy about anybody in my whole life! I don't want to waste anymore time and I'm going to do whatever it takes to get her to marry me. Even move to Cleveland, change my routes, anything she wants."

"Oh Howard you're so sweet. That's exactly what you should say to her." Emily suggested. "I remember what Bob said to me about change when we got married." She smiled at her husband now, intending to remind him of his old stance on change, now that they were going through a lot of it and he was very unhappy.

"I said that changes are a healthy part of marriage and that I hate change, but I love you, Emily." Bob admitted.

Emily smiled, taking his hand in her own. Bob was sickened by this. He had said that to her and to a million couples he'd counciled…but he had to admit that he meant it, especially where Emily was concerned.

"Yeah Howard. She's right. That is what you should say to Ellen." Bob agreed.

Emily kissed his cheek, happy he approved of an idea she was very excited about. Some people thought Howard and Ellen made kind of a strange couple, maybe that was true, but she thought they were just perfect.

"You're right. In fact, I'm going to go do it right now!"

"You'll be back before we leave, won't you?" Emily asked.

"I'll make sure of it. See you in a couple of weeks." Howard smiled, shutting the door behind him.

He didn't plan to spend that long trying to win Ellen's heart back for good. He intended to sweep her off her feet.

"Oh honey that's so sweet." Emily remarked as she began crying again. "Don't you think it's so romantic?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Bob, what's wrong?"

"I just…everything's changing and I hate it Emily."

"I know Bob, but life goes on, no one can help that. And you promised me…you promised me that you'd change with me."

"Yeah, I…I guess you're right." He said.

"I know you're anxious about our little changes but…I think you'll really grow to love them." She said, taking his hand in her own and placing it on her abdomen. "I mean, it's not as though they weren't of your own making: it was time for a change, or two."

"Yeah I…I guess so." He hesitated for a moment in agreeing with her and began to think about what had happened months earlier.

Back in the previous fall nothing had changed for Bob, except for the fact that he now lived on the top floor of his building and hated it… But that day he'd received a special call…two actually. The first, stating that he'd gotten the teaching job in Oregon. He didn't know how he would do it or what he would say, but he planned on telling Emily over dinner. The second call had been from Emily, who had told Carol that she had some news for over the dinner hour as well. Bob sure hoped she hadn't accepted a job in Boston or anything like that, because it would surely complicate things for the worse.

Bob snuck into the apartment quietly, carrying a bouquet of roses in hand. He had no clue what was going to happen that night, but he figured roses would help the situation more than they'd hurt.

"Oh Bob they're beautiful!" Emily smiled, rushing up to give him a kiss. She didn't ever miss anything like roses.

"Thanks. You did all of this for me?" He was kind of surprised at the grand dinner she'd made…on the fancy dishes.

"Well it's a special occasion." She gushed. He noted that she looked particularly...bright that evening and very happy, which calmed his nerves considerably.

"It is? It's not an anniversary is it, because if it is then I have to go to the uh…" he coughed, "car for a moment."

Emily laughed, knowing he really met department store or gift shop.

"No sweetie it's a new kind of special day." She said, leading him to the table.

"Well do you want to tell me your news first?" He asked. She sure hoped she hadn't been promoted to principal or anything.

"You can go first." She said diplomatically, seeming to pay more attention to the salad than to his news.

"Well honey, mine's kind of big so…honey, what did you do today?" He asked, thinking he was asking a question that might ease them into the arduous task of discussing each other's important news. But then he stopped, suddenly remembering what she had done that morning.

"You went to the doctor's this morning."

"That's right Bob." She smiled, waiting for him to say it for her.

"So, uh…does that have anything to uh…oh no." Emily noted that he had turned as white as a sheet.

"I'm pregnant." She said.

"No, no Emily that can't be. We're, we're too careful, we…" He stammered, looking up into his wife's now slightly sad and obviously confused eyes. He took a deep breath. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"Completely." She smiled.

"You're happy?"

"Over the moon. And Bob, we're not all that careful."

Bob's mind was flashing back several weeks, to when he'd dreamed Emily and Carol were pregnant…he knew it wasn't just a coincidence and spending the day in bed with Emily after Jerry canceled their golf game had been a horrible failure on his part. He couldn't believe he hadn't taken that dream (the dream in which all of that had happened), as a warning to not sleep with his wife for a while.

"Honey, what do you think?"

"Its uh…its…wow." He laughed.

"I know." She said, "and Bob, I'm so…happy! And here's the really exciting part. I'm due on April 15th!"

"Our wedding anniversary."

"That's right."

"Our tenth wedding anniversary."

"Um-hum!"

"Well great, that's just great." Her face fell when he said this, she had no idea he'd be this upset over the news, she thought it was wonderful news…news that she'd wanted to hear very badly at one point seven years or so before and just decided to forget about. "Emily, we're moving in April!"

"Moving? Where? Bob we just…"

"Oregon…I got a teaching job, I just heard today."

"Oh honey that's wonderful!" She squealed.

He paused for a moment noting how sincerely happy she was for him. How could he not be happy for her, even though he really, really didn't want this baby?

"Bob? Bob!" Emily asked, waving her hand in front of his face and calling his attention back to the present day.

"Oh, sorry Emily, I was just uh…staring off a little."

"That's okay…there's a lot to think about. Listen." She said, sitting down next to him on the couch. "Bob I know you, uh, you don't really want to do this whole baby thing so…"

"Emily. I'm not so happy about this. You know that. But, I really love you." He put his hand back on her stomach. "And…" He just couldn't justify being a jerk about it now that she was days away from having this baby. It wasn't right and he wasn't that type of guy.

"Ooh!"

"What, what is it?"

"Oh he kicked, that's all sweetie."

"Yeah, uh…I could tell…and…"

Bob was interrupted again when someone knocked on their door. He was annoyed. He had something important to share with her and now that he finally had the words, he couldn't tell her. Nothing was more frustrating than that.

"Now who could that be?" Bob asked, getting up to answer the door. "Oh Jerry." He was surprised to see his best friend at the door. Perhaps he was having second thoughts…hopefully!

"Hi Bob. I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Jerry said.

"No, no, come in."

"Hi Jerry, Bob said you had some news…he never got to tell me what it was though." Emily greeted.

"Oh." Jerry smiled. Emily was intreaged by the fact that he suddenly brightened at just the mere mention of his news.

"Can I get you anything?" Bob asked. He didn't really want to hear the news again, he thought it would lead to no good for Jerry and was concerned, especially given that they'd been down that road once or twice before already.

"Sure a club soda would be great, thanks."

"Anything for you honey?" He asked Emily, he may've been upset about the baby, but Emily was at least glad that he made every effort to pamper her.

"So what's this news?" Emily asked, she hadn't moved from her place on the couch.

"It's great Emily! I'm going to see the world!"

"The world, wow Jerry that is exciting. Bob may not be getting the world." She looked to make sure Bob wasn't listening. "But I sure wish he could try to be happy with our little change." Emily said, rubbing her stomach softly.

"Oh, he's still not so excited about fatherhood, huh?" Jerry asked. Emily shook her head.

"Not so much excited as doomed." She assessed.

"So what is it Jerry?" Bob asked, sitting back down next to Emily and handing Jerry his drink. Jerry could tell Bob was still upset over his news and Emily still didn't know the whole story.

"Well, I…wait, here she is!" Jerry exclaimed getting up to answer Bob and Emily's door when another knock came.

Emily was worried about this. Bob appeared horrified, much more so by this than their move or their impending baby. What could Jerry possibly be doing? And with who? Emily couldn't imagine anything that would upset Bob this much.

"Hi Bob, hi Emily." Came a familiar greeting.

"Courtney?" Emily inquired, looking up to see Jerry's ex-girlfriend, the restless one who spent her life traveling the world and had dumped him two times over.

"We're getting back together, for good! And we're going to see the world! And it's going to be wonderful! Isn't that fantastic!?" Jerry exclaimed.

Courtney's presence peaked Emily's interest, in just the wrong way and she now understood Bob's angst. He was leaving with her…again! Only to get his heartbroken in the end…how could he?! Had he totally taken leave of his senses! For the first time in her matchmaking career, Emily was fully determined to break up a couple, rather than get them together…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2- Passport to Cleveland

"I just can't believe he's doing this!" Emily exclaimed.

Bob didn't know how she was suddenly more enraged than he was. He raised an eyebrow at her outrage as he continued cleaning up the dishes from their impromptu party with Jerry and his girlfriend.

"Emily I thought you liked Courtney once upon a time?"

"Oh sure, I like her Bob…as a person. I just don't think she and Jerry…remember the last time she was here and she canceled their engagement." Emily argued.

"Yeah, Emily I know. Why do you think I'm upset? I wish he'd change his mind but…I don't think it's our place…besides aren't you normally the one pushing couples together?"

"Who have I…"

"Countless people! Carol and Larry, Howard and Ellen…you and me…just to name a few."

"You and me! Bob, I…"

"And it was the only match I've ever really approved of…at least at first." He wouldn't admit to her that he liked all of those other matches, and a few others she'd made…but many had been disasters of epic proportions. "Emily, stay out of this, you know how Jerry gets himself into these situations…I mean I don't wanna see him hurt either but I really think any pushing on our part's just going to push him further into her arms."

"Maybe you're right." She reflected. She rubbed her stomach as she sat on the edge of the couch.

"And Emily…as long as we're on the topic of changes…I have a suggestion for you." He admitted.

"What?"

"I think you should stop matchmaking. Remember those disasters with

Mr. Carlin, and that girl he liked last year, and poor Michelle?"

"Yeah but Bob, look how many happy marriages I've produced…" Bob rolled his eyes when she wasn't looking.

"Fine then Emily." He was completely exasperated. "Just promise me you won't match-make for one person."

"Who?" She asked.

"That baby!" He said, he thought having your mother match make for you, at least in this day and age, was one of the most awkward, agonizing, and damaging things anyone could hope to go through.

"Yes Bob, I fully intend on matchmaking for someone whose still in the womb, right." Emily was growing sick of not getting along with him. Match-make for someone in the womb…someone she didn't know the name or gender of yet. How ridiculous. "Wait Bob…I thought you didn't care."

"I don't I…Emily look. I don't not care. I'm just still upset. Playing Daddy it just…it wasn't in the cards for me, or rather, I didn't want it to be…and I still am not happy…"

Emily swallowed, she could feel her heart sink into her stomach and wondered momentarily who it was that that she'd spent the last ten years with. The Bob she'd married wasn't the same as the one she'd been living with since she'd been pregnant and that scared and saddened her deeply.

"Bob, I…"

"But…it's my baby too and," he sat on the table in front of her and placed both of his hands on her stomach, "honestly Emily, I love you more than Howard thinks he loves Ellen, more than I could ever imagine loving anyone or anything…and what kind of a monster doesn't love their own baby? Not me. It's not his fault he's here….actually it's kind of my fault he's here I think."

Emily laughed at this and smiled.

"Yes it is, Bob. I'm so glad to hear you say that, I thought you'd changed or something." She teased.

"Very funny." He smiled.

"I've been waiting nine months to see the man who wanted so badly to make one from a kit." She reminded, referring to his argument for trying to conceive a baby back when she wanted to adopt one. "Is he finally here?"

"I think he's around here somewhere Emily."

"Well I hope he's around for our last Lamaze class tomorrow." She said, kissing his cheek, and then trying, very slowly to get up from the couch.

Emily was getting big enough to where things like getting up and sitting back down were becoming very difficult. Bob sighed. She had left him sitting alone on the coffee table. He'd forgotten about the next morning's Lamaze session, and he completely dreaded it.

It took Howard only 45 minutes, once he was in the air, to get to Cleveland. Ellen had no idea that he was going to randomly show up at her apartment: it would be a surprise. His now teenaged son had advised him that showing up at a girl's house unannounced was a terrible idea. What if there were another guy there? How awful would that be?! While Howard agreed with the boy's assertions he completely disregarded them. He loved Ellen too much to let some cheap date stand in his way. He'd demonstrated this, years before through his refusal to allow her then cheap fiancé to stand in his way. That had won her heart, at least from his point of view.

For Ellen Hartley it wasn't so much that Howard's refusal to say no had won her. It was more like he'd saved her from having to go through with a marriage she was less than interested in, in the first place. She liked him. Loved him even, but she left Chicago for a reason. And it was more than just not being able to find a fulfilling job there, it was being totally unfulfilled in every way.

For some reason, Ellen's thoughts had taken her back to Chicago and back to Howard Borden that evening and she wasn't sure why. She picked up the phone to dial his number and put it down again, why should she bother to call? Didn't he come through Cleveland all the time when he was flying and never give her a call? She assumed so. Maybe she'd see him when Emily had her baby…or maybe she'd just forget the whole thing.

She was still unsure on her own stance about marriage, but her brother's extreme hesitancy to assume the responsibility of fatherhood (which had been conveyed to her both by a distraught Emily and an angry Martha (their mother)), had got her thinking about her own stubbornness regarding commitment. She and Bob were very much the same. Maybe she'd been wrong about refusing to marry. She knew she was right about John…but Howard…she wasn't sure. Maybe there was a difference between not truly wanting to get married and just not being anxious for it…she'd never thought of that before.

Ellen decided she was going to blame the loss of Howard on two things: lack of newspaper jobs in Chicago, and Bob, but not on her own hesitancy to commit to another person. Perhaps things would be different if he'd allowed her to move in with Howard when she'd wanted. She didn't want to spend the entire evening wallowing or wondering. So she got dressed, with every intent, to go out to this party she'd been invited to at the art gallery. And that guy from her office would be there, what was his name…he was always talking to her, maybe that would turn into something…Ellen was putting on her earrings when she heard someone knock on her door.

"Just a minute!" She called, crossing the room to answer it. Ellen didn't typically just answer it before looking through the keyhole, but this time she did.

"Howard?" She slowly began to smile when she saw him.

"You're really here!" He wasn't sure she would be.

"Oh Howard it's wonderful to see you!" She threw her arms around his neck. Being so short, his hug lifted her off the ground momentarily. He couldn't help himself and gave his former girlfriend a quick kiss on the lips.

"Oh sorry I…"

"No Howard, honey it's alright." She said. "Were you passing through?"

"No uh…my route doesn't take me to Cleveland, I'm here for you uh…to see you!" He corrected.

"Really? Well this is a surprise, come in. How are you? How's Emily?"

"Huge." Ellen laughed as he said this. "The baby's coming any day now and she's miserable."

"Is my big brother finally excited?"

"No." Howard shook his head.

Howard had been concerned by this as well. Even he had figured that maybe Bob's not wanting to be a father had something to do with Ellen's not wanting to be a wife. Howard didn't want to probe that thought too much though, it was too deep for him, and truthfully Emily had planted it there while he was painting her toenails a few days before.

"Oh, that's sad." Ellen contemplated. "Emily must be so upset."

"Yeah, she, she's very….hurt." He considered.

"Hey can I uh, get you anything to drink?"

"Sure uh…but it would appear you were going out."

"Well yeah I am." She smiled.

"Well then maybe I better go then, cause…"

"Don't be silly Howard I'm not going out with anyone, you should come!"

"Really! Oh uh…sounds fun." He was ecstatic at first and quickly caught himself. He needed to be casual about this if it was going to work.

Howard and Ellen had never been alone in a strange city before…strange counting of course, as a city they had not ever explored together. Howard was surprised that Ellen was getting so close to him, close for a woman who was apparently not his girl anymore. They walked close together, linked arm-in-arm, their steps matching each other. They'd even kissed twice! It was if they'd never parted, and Howard thought it was too good to be true.

"Oh I'm so glad you came to see me Howard." Ellen sighed.

In truth, she hadn't wanted to go to her work party at the art gallery alone, especially given that she was there in two capacities and it was almost a conflict of interest in some ways. First, she was a reporter. Second, as a respected member of the art community and former antique storeowner. While she felt she was an expert in the later, she also wondered if that made her a bias reporter. With Howard along, she hoped that perhaps she might be able to enjoy the evening and not necessarily be expected to cover the story in the way she might if she were dateless. When she was dateless, they expected that she had the extra time to devote to such a story that wasn't part of her regular writing.

Howard was anxious about the party because he wondered if Ellen had been dating anyone who would be there. To him, she was the most beautiful woman in the world and he couldn't imagine that every man in the world wasn't trying to date her. The truth is, they weren't, with the exception of one man: Blaine Cossinger.

Blaine was the kind of guy who thought a lot of himself. He stood, leaning against the gallery's makeshift bar, holding a glass of the most expensive wine he could buy that night, which hadn't even come from the party. He surveyed his surroundings, not as an outsider, but as the self-appointed most popular man in the room, using one hand to run through his thick blonde hair and the other to twirl his glass in a completely exaggerated way, as if would make it's contents' somehow more special. Although an anchorman, Blaine had gotten over the classic over the top, leisure-suit-wearing, sexual harassment lawsuit impending anchorman style and moved on to it's 80's yuppie equivalency.

"Oh good, you're here!" He burst once he saw Ellen arrive. "I want to introduce you to some people. Oh Fabio!" He called, grabbing her free arm and beginning to pull her toward another part of the party.

"Hey, would you watch it?" Howard was angry now. Ellen was for once somewhat glad that he decided not to let go and held onto her so firmly. Blaine thought they were an item and it was ridiculous, it drove her crazy.

"Blaine, I'm sorry. I'm with my boyfriend tonight, this is Howard, he's visiting from Chicago."

"Oh, yes, Chicago." Blaine repeated, he was taken aback by the presence of the boyfriend of the woman he was trying to hit on. "You're from there, right? My brother Thad lives there." He remarked. "Dreadful little town."

Howard bristled, but Ellen held him back.

"So tonight." He supposed, almost suggestively, but in truth, teasingly. "Is for pleasure, not business."

"Hey, don't talk to my girl like that!" Howard yelled, tackling Blaine.

"You Neanderthal, get off of me!" Blaine yelled.

"Howard! He was kidding." Ellen warned.

"No he wasn't." He said, getting off Blaine's back (literally) and adjusting his shirt and jacket. "That's something a guy would say if he liked a girl, I know, I've done it…hundreds of times!" It was not smart of Howard to disclose this to the girl he wanted to take home to Chicago with him, but he did it anyway.

"Of course someone like him would say it, claude!" Blaine accused as he walked away. Howard took pride in the fact that he had ripped the creepy anchorman's new jacket and he had yet to notice. Ellen kind of laughed to herself even though she was embarrassed to death and mad too.

"Howard, this is one of the problems we've always had. You're too possessive of me! Why do you think I came all the way out here again, and for what?!" Ellen wished she wouldn't have said this about her job in front of her boss and her entire workplace. "Wait Howard. You've never said anything like that to me." Ellen was a little taken back.

"Well that's because. I don't like you Ellen. I love you." He explained. "And I really came here, to bring you home. Marry me. Please. I've been asking. Remember?" He asked, leaning in for a kiss that Ellen accepted readily.

"Oh Howard, honey, I don't know, remember, it's like I said, you love me I know that, and I love you too, but you're possessive. And you're obsessed with me and I just don't want to be…to be caged."

Unbeknownst to Howard and Ellen, they had an audience. Ellen's entire workplace had turned to watch Howard fight Blaine (whom none of them really liked all that much, with the exception of some of the younger female interns, who had slept with him, not because they had romantic feelings toward him, or liked him as a person, but merely because they were shallow enough to be impressed with his somewhat ambiguous celebrity status in the city of Cleveland). The workers, most of whom were half in the bag, had become enthralled in Howard and Ellen's discussion of their tumultuous love life. In fact, Eddie, the copy boy who stood in the back of the gallery, had become confused, thinking he was still watching the premier of that new drama, called _Dallas_ that he'd seen a few weeks before and had mistaken Howard and Ellen for Bobby and Pam Ewing.

"Howard, we can't get married, I just…" Ellen continued to explain.

"It's J.R.'s fault! The bastard!" Eddie yelled, angrily raising his glass in the air. He passed out cold drink; right then and there, the cup shattering as he cascaded to the floor.

Everyone was silent for a minute till the room began to chant:

"Marry the guy! Marry the guy! Marry the guy! Marry the…"

"Alright fine!" Ellen yelled, almost silencing the room, but then they began to chant again, apparently they thought it was fun or something.

"You'll marry me?!" Howard asked excitedly. This party wasn't that wild, not in his opinion anyway.

"No Howard." She smiled. "But I will move back to Chicago with you. And I will live with you, just like we were going to before Bob threw a fit. And who knows, we'll see where we end up, okay?" She asked.

"Okay!" He could barely breathe, it wasn't marriage, but it was sure good enough for him.

"Come on Howard." She took his arm again, beginning to whisper now as she looked back at her soon to be former co-workers. "Lets get away from these freaks."

Howard and Ellen kissed as they left the gallery and began to walk back down the street; relieved to have finally reached an agreement they were both happy with regarding their relationship.

"Oh wait, I almost forgot, I have a surprise for you!" Howard exclaimed, grabbing her hand instead of her arm and beginning to run toward the nearest taxi.


	3. Chapter 3

Carol narrowed her eyes at herself as she stared into the bathroom mirror. She'd finally done it: begun to establish a career, a real career! And she couldn't believe it! She didn't think she was tough enough for this job, but everybody else did, even Elliot Carlin, and that worried her.

It was early in the morning and she had decided to come to work early. She glared straight into the depths of her own eyes, practically daring herself to take the next leap in life and leave this place. She felt now, that she could only do it on a dare. The idea that she had only a few days left at a job she kind of loved and had spent a lot of her adult life in frightened her. Leaving had seemed like a great idea when she'd decided to do it, but she wasn't sure now. She wanted to talk to Bob about it, but he was taking Emily to the doctor and wouldn't be in till the day was pretty much said and done.

"Hey Carol!" She turned to see Jerry as he got off the elevator.

"Jerr what are you doing in so early?" He was in an hour before he usually arrived…and he was so happy that morning."

"I'm quitting my job!"

"Y-you're what?!" She asked, getting up and following him back down the hall toward his small dental office.

"That's right Carol, I'm quitting my job and traveling around the world."

"Huh?" She asked. She was confused.

"It's Courtney!" He exclaimed, as if she wouldn't already know. So far, only Bob and Emily knew about Jerry's impromptu decision to leave town.

"Courtney…you mean the one that spends her life traveling around the world?" Carol raised an eyebrow. Why would he go back with her a…third, no a fourth time now?

"Yes! Courtney! You know she's always been the one for me…" He sighed reflectively.

"Yeah…four times now." Carol muttered under her breath.

"What's that Carol?" He asked as he finished washing his hands. He had a few appointments, and a few retainers to make that day and he was leaving to help Courtney plan their next trip, they were thinking Mongolia.

"Oh uh- nothing, so you're going to travel around the world too?"

"Yes! That's exactly it! You know, I started thinking, what am I going to do with you leaving, and Bob moving away, and Courtney just came back at the perfect time, that's all."

"Yeah…perfect timing." Jerry didn't notice the doubtful intonation in her voice when she said that.

As Carol wondered whether or not this was a flight of fancy for Jerry, as she wandered back to her desk. Was he serious about leaving and giving everything up for her again? It hadn't worked the last time he'd done it and he'd wound back up in the very same dentist's chair just a few months later. Carol was worried now, she was sure it would all happen again, and this time she and Bob wouldn't be there to pick up the pieces and get him back on his feet.

Carol knew she had to do something. This time, she decided to be devious and do what she thought Emily might do, so she called Courtney for lunch.

Bob hated accompanying Emily on her baby appointments. It was the most awkward thing he'd ever had to do, even more so than that time Mrs. Walker had been in love with him. He didn't know weather he liked going to the doctor or going to birthing classes less. But after today, he knew he had to say birthing classes, and thankfully today had been their last one.

First, it was awkward with all those other couples, especially since many of them were so enthusiastic and he was so unenthusiastic…Bob had taken a sarcastic attitude to the whole thing early on, it was just breathing, couldn't they learn to do that at home? Unfortunately, their Lamaze coach had picked up on Bob's feelings early into their time in the class and had been using it to judge him, and his potential performance as a parent since then.

While Bob wasn't happy about being a Dad, he didn't want to think he was going to be a terrible one before he even began. That day's class had started as they always did, sitting on the floor, holding Emily and practicing breathing. Only, this morning, Emily had a difficult time sitting down between his legs, and he found that he could no longer reach all the way around her. She was cranky anyway, so all he needed was for her to discover that she'd gotten bigger again. Lately, she'd been blaming him for all the discomforts late pregnancy had to offer.

"That's okay honey." She reassured, leaning back to kiss his cheek. He smiled for a moment, feeling better about this.

Maybe that was the one good part about the classes: getting to sit with Emily. He was more content than usual when their breathing began that morning. He could tell that Emily felt comfortable in his arms, which was nice because he knew she was far from comfortable. He got lost in his own thoughts for a minute, concentrating on feeling the baby jump…he had to admit to himself, it was pretty neat. Maybe Bob would've enjoyed the peace of just sitting with his wife and unborn baby, these past few weeks, like he'd been enjoying it that morning, but then came the voice he so dreaded hearing.

"Isn't this great Bob?!" Thad asked, just as he did multiple times every class.

Bob had been very annoyed with the couple next to them for weeks. Thad and Darlene were the kind of couple who, in a few years time, would come to be known as yuppies. Thad was one of those guys that always looked a bit too perfect, a bit too…squeaky-clean to be taken seriously. He always wore a thick sweater, the kind you might wear skiing and his teeth….they were probably the shiniest things Bob had ever seen. For some reason, Thad had been under the impression, for weeks that Bob was interested in hearing him talk and he wasn't. He hated eager people.

At the same time, Emily was boiling mad. She was tired, uncomfortable, and had noted that the baby finally had its Daddy's full attention. Bob wasn't even paying attention to the breathing they were supposed to be doing and just sat there, feeling the baby move. She could tell because his hands followed the baby's kick wherever it went across her stomach. The last thing she wanted was for Thad, of all people to take Bob's focus off of the youngest Hartley.

"Uh, yeah…" He said, acknowledging his classmate.

"It feels neat, doesn't it Bob?" Emily asked, leaning her head back and looking up into his face.

"Yes, it does." He smiled, leaning down to kiss her softly.

"You know it's great when…"

"Would you shut up Thad!" Emily practically yelled, surprising everyone, especially Bob. "I've been waiting around this whole pregnancy to get my husband's attention, and for me to be able to ask, gee Bob, isn't this great? That's what Lamaze time is for, for me to ask him that and not you." Emily was immediately embarrassed at how she'd snapped at him…but that was the reality of it.

"Can I talk to the two of you after class?" Their instructor asked, calling Bob and Emily to attention.

As the class ended, each set of expectant parents was given a grade, some encouraging words and a care basket to take home for their baby all accept, Bob and Emily. Emily sat nervously, caressing her stomach and tried to tell herself, that despite whatever he had to say to them, she wouldn't make a bad mother.

"Frankly Dr. and Mrs. Hartley, I just think you have a long road, you're in such different places, when it comes to accepting the fact that you're about to be parents, it concerns me."

Emily thought he was right about that, she was concerned too. At the same time, her feelings were changing because she knew Bob's were, although slowly. He had told her all along that of course he was going to be in this with her, of course he was going to love their child simply because he couldn't not love him or her and in the last few days he'd begun to prove it, showing actual affection for the baby she carried under her heart….who now had the hiccups.

"We wanted children a-at one time and then we never were able to conceive and we just figured it wasn't in the cards for us."

"So, when I got pregnant…"

"Well look," Bob defended. "We're close and we've always just been a couple, and we're adjusting, I'm..I'm adjusting."

"That's exactly it. You're adjusting. How long have you been together?"

"Tomorrow's our tenth wedding anniversary." Emily informed.

"And we're also due tomorrow." Bob couldn't believe he was saying this. It was so surreal.

"Oh dear!"

"What?" Bob and Emily asked at once.

"Well you've been together so long, will you ever be able to adjust?" Their instructor raised an eyebrow.

"We love each other very much, and in my business," Bob offered. "That counts for everything." He said, taking Emily's hand in his own. Wow what reassurance this was for her!

"Well, from what I've observed, the two of you have a lot of selfishness that I think you should look at carefully, so it won't impede your parenting."

"Selfishness?!" Emily was aghast, she supposed she knew what he meant about Bob, but her, selfish? She was the one in education! The one currently sharing her body with another person, and don't forget the one who wanted to have this baby! How in the world was she selfish?

"Well, as I've told you, before moving across country when your baby's only two weeks old…"

"I took this job before I knew she was pregnant!" At this point, he never would've taken it if he knew they were having a baby. Which reminded him that the baby was going to keep him from opening that inn he'd been "dreaming" about.

"And I got pregnant before I knew he was looking for a job in the first place!"

"E-Emily, you got pregnant on purpose?" He was angry now.

"Well sort of. I didn't take my pill, thinking that maybe, you know I'd try it one more time." She said, she was crying now. She knew he was mad at her. "How was I supposed to know it was going to work! It never worked before!"

"Oh sweetheart, don't cry." Bob took her in his arms and kissed her softly. "I hope it's a baby girl." He said, causing her to smile.

"You do?"

"Yeah, I have for months, but I know how badly you wanted a boy, so I just elected to shut up."

"Oh Bob, I don't care, I think it's wonderful you want a girl." She said, a fresh batch of tears began to pour down her cheeks as he hugged her. She had a feeling it was a girl anyway.

"Well, aside from that…rather convenient display of emotion…and believe me, I don't like doing this, but I have to give you both a D."

"A "D"!" Emily was fuming mad. A Vice-Principal getting a D was embarrassing. Especially when it was a parenting class of sorts.

"A "D plus" for Mrs. Hartley."

"Why?" Bob asked, he'd never expected a "D."

"And a "D minus" for you, Dr. Hartley."

"Come on Emily." He said, helping his extremely expectant wife to her feet. "We don't have to take this, the three of us will make it through just fine."

"I'm glad you think that, because your "D" emanates from lack of harmony in your relationship." This struck a chord with them both, but they left without a word, defiantly reasoning that they would work this all out.

Unfortunately for Bob, their last birthing class would not be the worst part of the day. He looked over at Emily as he drove, the April rain still cascading down their car windows. She was very upset. She'd been very excited by the prospect of giving birth on their anniversary. The idea had met something special to her and plus she couldn't wait to have the baby.

"I can't believe he's coming late!" Emily cried. The doctor had just informed them of this.

"Yeah, but this is great Emily it'll give us some more time, you know we aren't really ready yet." He wasn't ready. She was very ready.

"Yeah, we don't even have a name yet Bob." She said tearfully. She'd wanted to call her baby by it's name, or what she thought might be its name months before, but Bob wouldn't help her plan.

"Yeah, that's, that's true. Honey, we don't know for sure, it's just an estimate."

"I know but I'm miserable! And I thought it would be such a…an interesting way to spend our anniversary."

"Me too honey, but you'll have our baby when he's ready and…"

"And now I'm going to be fat and miserable on our tenth anniversary!"

"Emily, for months you've been excited about being pregnant. You're not fat you're beautiful and pregnant, and I'm going to take you out tomorrow night, pregnant or not."

"Okay." She smiled. Despite not wanting to be a father, he'd been so sweet to her through all of this: morning sickness, food cravings, backaches, mood -swings, you name it. "You're wonderful." She whispered, causing him to smile. "Where are we going?"

"Oh, somewhere special. Do you feel up to meeting me at the office, maybe taking the train down, and I'll drive you home?" He suggested, she hadn't been able to fit behind the wheel of the car to drive in weeks.

"Yeah, I think so. Bob where are you taking me?" She was still discouraged but excited now.

"You'll find that out tomorrow." Bob insisted on withholding this from Emily, little did she know, he had a big surprise planned.

Please review, and also, what do you think, is it a boy or a girl?


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4- Dinner for Two or maybe Three

Bob could still not believe that his last days at this office were approaching. He'd been working there since before he'd even met Emily and it was their tenth wedding anniversary. She was right. It was time for a change. That night he planned on celebrating their anniversary with a quiet, romantic dinner for two followed by a surprise dessert with all their friends (minus Howard who they hadn't heard from since he left for Cleveland), Bob's parents, his patients (like Mr. Carlin, Michelle and Mrs. Bakerman) as well as various people they both worked with. He'd called Ellen to invite her a few days ago and had heard nothing back, even though he'd left a message at her office. Bob smiled to himself, supposing that Howard had found her and convinced her of something.

Poor Emily had been miserable that morning, emotionally. She still wanted so much to have the baby that day but unfortunately she felt just fine…compared with the last few days, or even the last month. She regretted agreeing to meet Bob at his office and wished that Howard would've been there to drive her. She boarded the train, very pregnant, on the brink of crying and in heals. The real reason she went was not to see her husband, but because the doctor had told her walking might help start labor.

Bob knew that Emily would be there any moment and grabbed his coat. He had spent the last hour packing, and going through patient files, it was completely surreal. Meanwhile, Carol was savoring every last moment at her desk and was so glad that she was leaving when Bob and Jerry were. She couldn't imagine working there without them, nor did she want to. Dr. Newman would surely find a way to make her days hell without Bob around to protect her, and Jerry there to occupy her time. And then there was that lunch with Courtney.

Carol would admit to you that she was a little nervous about that. She planned to take the globetrotter out and give her a piece of her mind, and a warning not to hurt Jerry again. The elevator dinged, bringing Carol out of her thoughts.

"Emily! What are you doing here!" She exclaimed as she saw a very pregnant Emily get off the elevator.

"Nice to see you too."

"I didn't mean it like that I…"

"I know Carol I'm kidding."

"Can I get you water or anything?" She asked, watching Emily manage to sit herself down in a chair outside Bob's office.

While Emily was more comfortable than she had been, she'd also gotten bigger in the past day and was having a difficult time walking…the heals didn't help. Carol didn't dare say it, but Emily looked as though the baby wasn't going to wait much longer at all, like not even minutes let alone days.

"Oh no, thanks Carol, if I drink anything my bladder will pay me back for it. How long will Bob be?"

"I'll let him know you're here. He's not with anybody." Carol smiled, picking up the phone. "By the way Emily, I love your shoes!" She said, admiring Emily's beautiful garnet colored heels.

"Thanks Carol, I'm glad somebody's enjoying them, I can't see them anyway."

Emily looked down at her feet in a vein attempt to sneak a glance at her own shoes.

"Bob, Emily's here. No, I think you'd better come to her if you want her to come in." Emily caught onto this and nodded. She was tired and didn't want to walk another step further…unless it was a step toward the car.

"Hi honey." He said, poking his head out into the lobby, "you wanna come in for a minute?"

"Oh Bob, my feet hurt, can't I just sit here?"

"I guess. But you know, we're just going to leave anyway."

Emily groaned, leaning her head back against the wall. Carol excused herself and went inside the office, pulling Bob away from the door.

"Look Bob, I think maybe you better make sure the restaurant is close to a hospital."

"What, is she close?"

"Have you seen your wife today?"

"Oh Carol, she's fine. I told you the doctor said she'd be late." Carol thought he was taking this for granted and that the doctor didn't know what she was talking about.

"Ok, but be careful."

"No Carol, you're the one who should be careful." Bob warned as she followed him back out into the lobby.

"About what?" Emily interjected.

"Her lunch with Courtney."

"Oh, you're having lunch with Courtney." Emily laughed as Bob helped her up. She knew exactly what Carol had up her sleeve: just what she'd been thinking of doing: giving their friend Courtney a warning.

"Yes."

"Be gentle on her Carol, and…remember that it's not really any of our business. Jerry's gonna do what he's gonna do." Bob said as he hit the elevator button.

Bob, Emily and Carol were surprised to see Jerry and Courtney on the elevator when it finally arrived at the seventh floor, only the couple were making out and didn't seem to notice them, or that they'd arrived at their destination.

They stood for a moment, watching them kiss. Bob decided to grab the elevator door and hold it open so that he and Emily wouldn't have to wait any longer to get back to the car…and also to not watch this anymore, it kind of made him sick.

Carol, on the other hand, studied the kiss carefully. Jerry and Courtney had something that she had only ever had with Larry…it was evident in the way that he held her face in his hands…maybe she shouldn't say anything, and if she did, boy was it going to be a tall order.

Meanwhile, Emily, who was anxious to get wherever it was that she and Bob were going, decided to get on the elevator anyway, even if that met distracting the deeply enamored couple.

"Oh, uh. Hi Emily." Jerry greeted when she interrupted their embrace. Bob took the opportunity to follow his wife onto the elevator.

"Be careful." Emily teased. "That," she said, referring to the kissing, "is exactly what leads to this." She finished, indicating her own obviously pregnant condition. She giggled as the elevator doors closed, leaving Jerry, Carol and Courtney standing there in the lobby.

"Well she didn't have to put it that way." Courtney said. The free spirit was offended. "Sex doesn't have to be about having babies."

Carol cringed, at hearing this and tried not to listen as she sat back down in her chair. Jerry was like a big brother to her, she didn't want to hear him talking about that stuff. Yuck.

"What, they're having a baby, so what, what's wrong with that?" Jerry laughed.

"Well…I don't ever want to have children. I know we were going to adopt when I was last here Jerry, but now I'm not really into it."

Jerry paused for a moment. Was this a problem for him? He'd grown up an orphan and always wanted a family of his own. Jerry had thought for months that Bob was extremely blessed to be becoming a Dad and just didn't know it yet. He liked kids, unlike Bob. It's why he was a children's dentist (mostly) and why he hung out with Howie Borden if he was ever around. Now to find out the love of his life didn't want to have a family with him?

"Oh Courtney, it uh…I don't know about this. Having a family is something that's really important to me. Cause, I like kids and because I grew up without anyone. You know, no real family."

"Jerry, I know, but children tie you down."

"Yeah I, I guess they do." He answered, sitting at the edge of Carol's desk.

"Look, you're just being silly. When we get out there and see the world, you'll be fulfilled. I promise." Courtney said, kissing him sweetly and stepping toward the elevator again. "Carol, I'll see you tonight? I can't make lunch today, I'm sorry…maybe the next time we're in town!"

So much for lunch. Carol had a feeling she would do this anyway. And as for the next time they came to town, when was that going to be? At least three years from them. Carol nodded at Courtney and Jerry waved, although not enthusiastically. Carol noted that he looked sad now.

"Jerr…" She began.

"No uh…she's right. She…"

"Jerry listen to me for a sec. If kids are important to you, which I'm not going to lie, I know they are…then she needs to know that. If being grounded is important she needs to know that too. And as far as the world fulfilling her: strange new places...then why does she never stop? She gets her adrenaline rush, goes to a place…falls in love with its food, it's customs…it's people…"

Jerry looked into her eyes when she said this and the look in his own eyes broke her heart. He understood exactly what she was saying: Courtney used people and was incapable of making a commitment, not only to something as simple as choosing a continent to live on, but also to him.

"You're right." He reasoned. "But Carol…"

"Yeah Jerr."

"I have to go anyway."

"Howard, I'm so glad you decided to do this it was the most romantic thing anybody's ever done for me." Ellen said. By romantic she meant that she didn't want to know how much it was costing him.

"I know." He said.

Howard rested his head against hers and closed his eyes. He felt like he was in utter bliss. He was in the air, the place he most liked to be, holding the love of his life in his arms.

"I tell you Howard, having breakfast in Paris, it was just such a beautiful idea honey." She grabbed both his cheeks and then kissed one of them. Howard smiled. Her kiss put a smile on his heart.

He had pulled some stings and gotten them two Concorde flights. One from New York to Paris the previous evening and one back to Washington D.C. now they were on their fourth flight in the last sixteen hours and headed back to Chicago. It was a quick but very glamorous trip. Howard wanted desperately to show her how life with him could really be.

He watched her giggle as she twirled the champagne in her glass and took another sip. She was tipsy…it had taken him all night and all morning, but he'd finally done it! Now to just get her tipsy enough to say yes to the wedding! Otherwise he'd have to cancel the church again and he didn't think that Reverend Robbins would be as nice about it this time.

"Howard, why do you want to marry me?"

"Because I love you."

"Is love enough?" She asked. Again, she was on the verge of being drunk and thought she was being philosophical.

"It is for me, is it for you?"

"Don't you need me Howard?" She asked. He hoped this wasn't some kind of a trick question. She wanted to be needed.

"Of course I need you Ellen, I'm hopeless without you."

"This is because Emily's not going to be around to take care of you anymore, isn't it?" Howard was upset when he realized she was probably still more lucid while tipsy than he was the majority of the time.

"Well I mean, she'll be busy with the new baby and everything…"

"Oh Howard come here." Ellen said, pulling him in for a kiss. "You're a very sweet man Howard Borden, and I love you."

Howard was not sure what this really met. It couldn't have just been an, I love you, there was a yes or a but there and he couldn't tell which one it was. He was immediately comforted when Ellen lye her head back on his shoulder. That was her way of saying yes.

Emily was excited about Bob's surprise and hoped that it would help take her mind off of the likelihood that she was not having the baby that day.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

They were at a very elegant restaurant for their anniversary dinner, which by all counts was really more of an anniversary lunch. But it sufficed for a romantic candlelit dinner for sure. In fact, Bob had arranged for them to be served by candlelight.

"Huge…but better."

"You're beautiful this afternoon."

"No I'm not." She said, as he placed a simple kiss on her forehead.

"Sure you are. If I'd've known…eleven years ago, how beautiful you were going to be, I would've married you on the spot."

She laughed. "Without getting to know me? Seems awfully risky."

"No, nothing about loving you has been risky. A little…challenging at times maybe, but not risky."

"Challenging?"

"You make me grow." She smiled at this.

"So uh, you're telling me that this uh, this me having a baby thing hasn't been uh-challenging for you?" She teased.

"You know what Emily?"

"No, what?"

"It's like I've been trying to say, I'm intimidated yeah, actually, I'm scared to death! But I have to consider that, I was like that for a while about getting married."

"You were?"

"Yeah. When we got married, I was going to tell your father that I'd take good care of you, you know, but I didn't. It seemed silly. You're a grown woman, you can take care of yourself, it seemed too…stereotypical, I guess… and besides, your father didn't think much of me. I knew he thought I couldn't take care of you. And then, later I realized it was wrong for even thinking that. I don't take care of you, you don't take care of me: we take care of each other." She smiled.

Give and take was truly the essence of their relationship.

"And in the same way, I'm not solely responsible for the baby." He continued. "It's _our_ baby, and that's why little by little, this whole thing makes me less of a nervous wreck than it did the day before, and I begin to realize that it's not an inconvenience, it's just simply beautiful…and so are you."

"Do you realize that's the most romantic thing anybody's ever said to me?" She was crying a little now.

"Yes."

"Well Bob, you're wrong."

"Huh?"

"Well first off, it's kind of ironic: you're great at taking care of other people: you do it for a living…and second and most important. You do take care of me. It's not like I'm not scared too…sure you're all caught up in the emotional side of this." She began.

He thought she was the one caught up in emotion. She was the one who cried…very often, snapped during Lamaze the day before and had been having periodic mood-swings for months.

"But physically, this is my problem. I'm the one who is going to have to have this baby, probably in just a matter of hours," she was right about this by the way, "and I'm terrified!"

Bob didn't know what to say. He wanted to try, 'oh it won't hurt that bad', but he knew that A. he'd be lying and B. he didn't exactly have the jurisdiction to say that to her. It would be construed as offensive.

"I'll be there. Every second of this thing. I promise." He decided to offer.

"Thank you."

"I'm you're husband and the father, I'm supposed to be there. And I want to be with you every step of the way."

He wanted to say that she wasn't bringing a baby into the world, they were, but he knew that wouldn't be a popular comment with her and soon, as in a few hours from now, he would realize that would be a totally inappropriate remark to ever make to a woman who was in the middle of having a baby. Emily thought he was trying too hard to convince her of his loyalty. She decided their tenth anniversary would be the best time to ask him a very sensitive question.

"Bob?"

"What honey?"

"How come um…how come every time I needed something over the past nine months you jumped, in fact, you panicked, but you told me, almost every day, in some way that you don't want to have a baby with me. I'm only asking now because your opinion seems to be changing and I think baby and I deserve to know what it is your really feeling. Oooh!" She cringed.

"Emily what is it?!"

"Oh nothing, nothing," she exhaled, "I think it's just the false labor again." She'd been feeling it for weeks now.

"Oh, okay. Emily I…" He began to explain.

"It's just that you dote on me and you insist you love a baby you don't actually want. It's very hurtful and its very confusing Bob."

"Emily, I understand that and I-"

"Surprise!" Emily jumped when at least a dozen voices came out of nowhere at once.

Suddenly she and Bob were swamped with well-wishers and she knew in an instant that he'd planned an anniversary/going away party for her. She thought it was the sweetest thing in the world, but perhaps one of the more ill timed things also.

"Oooh!" When the second pain came, Emily knew it met real labor had finally begun. "Bob." She said, panicking momentarily.

He was too busy talking Jerry about whatever third world destination he and Courtney were headed to. If that weren't enough, it would seem that the excessive noise from all the other people chattering, was also keeping Emily from getting Bob's attention.

"Bob…" She said a little louder, then took a deep breath to try to calm herself, noting the pain was already intensifying.

"Just a second honey." He laughed, finishing listening to something else Jerry was saying, she was sure it was inane. "This is really funny!"

"Bob!" She shouted, catching his and Jerry's attention and no one else's. "Baby coming out!"

"What?!" He practically yelled, jumping up to help Emily out of her chair.

"Bob, I think these are real contractions." She confessed, letting out a deep breath. Bob put his arm around her waist and they began to walk out of the restaurant, Jerry in tow.

"It's okay, just re-relax, Emily. Think about what we've learned in class and we'll be at the hospital in no time, I promise."

The Maitre d', panicking that he might not get paid, sprung into action and decided that he'd follow Bob and Emily to the car if need be.

"Sir! Sir!" The Maitre d' followed, catching Bob just as he pressed the down button on the elevator.

"Oooh! I can't believe it hurts this much already." She moaned as Bob held her around her waist still.

"I know honey, it'll be okay. Just breathe with me."

"Sir!" The Maitre d' brushed past Jerry and walked straight up to Bob. "You need to pay your bill before you leave! It's for twenty people and two who didn't show up!" He seemed angry about the no shows.

Jerry marveled at how oblivious this guy was to the situation at hand. It was very obvious, at this point, that Emily was in fact having the baby. Just then the elevator doors opened and out walked Howard and Ellen.

"Emily!" Ellen gasped sympathetically. She was very shocked to see her. "Are you okay? What are you doing here?!"

"I've been better. Oooh ouch! Bob these are close together, hurry!"

"The baby's coming!" Howard was excited, more like a child than a grown man. "I'm going to be an Uncle!"

"How about this." Bob offered the headwaiter. "I'm going to take my very expectant wife to have our baby, and about your little problem with the bill…this man will take care of it." Bob smiled, patting Howard on the shoulder as he and Emily hurriedly got on the elevator.

"Oh yeah, me! That's right guys, whatever it is, Uncle Howard will take care of it!" He shouted at Bob and Emily as they got on the elevator. "I'm- I'm the Uncle to be you know." He said reiterated, proudly addressing the Maitre d'. "Wait, I'll take care of what?"

Jerry laughed to himself. He thought it was brilliant that Bob had finally found away for Howard to pay him back for years of free dinners and borrowing stuff, and this was a real clever one. He turned around and looked at the party going on in the restaurant behind him as Howard wrote the check and realized no one had noticed the rather unusual departure of the party's hosts, especially Carol and Courtney who had very obviously gotten into a fight.

"Look at this place! It's a mess!" Howard was disgusted. "I'm not paying for a party that's a total disaster. Come on everybody! Emily's having the baby, why don't we take this over to the hospital!"

"Oh, no Howard…" Jerry warned, he didn't think this was a good idea at all.

"Howard." Ellen warned, she agreed wholeheartedly with Jerry and the two snuck each other concerned glances.

But it was too late, and so the room full of guests set off to wait at the hospital for the birth of baby Hartley.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5- That Part Where Nobody Gets Along

It was only the really dedicated Bob and Emily Hartley fans who came to the hospital to wait for the baby: they included Ellen, Howard, Jerry (and Courtney by default), Carol, Larry, Bob's mother and Mr. Carlin. Almost everyone else stayed at the restaurant and drank. As for Bob's father, he didn't care about babies anymore than his son did, which is why he went home in order to watch a show about fly-fishing instead of going to the hospital and waiting for his grandchild's birth.

His wife was very upset about this. This was Sonny and Emily's baby! Something she'd waited forever for! How could he spend the evening watching a special on fly-fishing at a time like this?! Little did she know, he hadn't wanted children either and had greatly approved of Bob and Emily's, apartment-dwelling, childless life style. He was disappointed that it was ending this way after ten years. As for Carol and Courtney, they had stopped their fight (although temporarily) and were trying hard to not speak to each other in the hopes that it wouldn't start again. A hospital waiting room, after all, was no place for a violent fight, especially when you were waiting for a new baby to come into the world.

"Why didn't every body else come?" Howard asked. He and Jerry were playing chess. Ellen thought his excitement was hilarious. It was like he was the one having the baby!

"I don't understand it either, I would've come! You know, if I weren't already coming with big Red." Larry added. He too was more enthusiastic about Emily's baby than Bob was.

"I think it would've been a little crowded if it were more than just us." Jerry suggested and Carol nodded in agreement. "Come on it's your move, Howard."

Howard furrowed his brow, looking at the chessboard very carefully in perplexed in-decision.

"Howard honey, let me do this one." Ellen offered, reaching over his hands.

In one swift move, she jumped four of Jerry's pawns and one bishop, successfully removing them from the game. Howard was stunned and wondered momentarily if there was a problem with marrying a woman who was so much smarter than he was…a second time.

"Ellen, why do you always just have to jump in, you should've given him time to do it by himself." Martha asked, she was upset with the way her daughter always jumped into things like that.

"Mom I…"

"And what's the deal? Are you two back together? Are you getting married?"  
"Back together yes." Howard smiled.

"Getting married no."

"Not yet."

"So let me guess you're going to come back to Chicago, get a job you don't like, be unsatisfied with your life again, live alone and not get married."

"Actually no, we're going to be living together!" Howard was excited.

Ellen was a little upset that he'd just blurted this out, she thought her mother would be upset by this decision, sort of like Bob was the last time she and Howard had tried to do this. She braced herself for being screamed at.

"That's wonderful!" Martha interjected.

"It, it is?" Ellen asked. She was suspicious.

"It's great!" Jerry chimed.

"Congratulations!" Courtney always approved of "free love."

"It'll change your life completely, in everyway and you'll love it." Carol promised.

"I agree. My life has done a complete 360 since living with big Red." Larry added. Ellen observed that his near continual praise for the wife who he called big Red often sounded like he was on television, back in the 50's, doing a commercial for some kind of great dishwasher soap or something.

"Well yes it's great." Martha added. "You're finally moving toward settling down with a nice man I happen to like very much." Howard smiled at this. "But what did I do wrong?"

"What do you mean Mom?" Ellen laughed.

"What's wrong with you children that you shy away from, from normal things that most people really want in life: from marriage, from babies, from…"

"Well Dad does." Ellen observed. Martha chose to ignore that comment and moved on to something else that would prove to disturb Ellen even more.

"Speaking of babies Ellen, when's that going to be you in the other room."

She hoped never.

"Uh Mom…I don't think it's such a good idea to have this talk right now. Howard and I've never even talked about it."

She was getting angrier by the minute. Ellen told herself that if Howard decided to chime into this conversation with her mother, instead of waiting to talk to her privately, then their relationship would have to be over. Fortunately, fate stepped in, in the form of Courtney Simpson.

"Martha! People don't have to marry, or have children to show that they're in love!" Courtney was appalled.

"Oh boy." Jerry whispered to himself. He knew Courtney and he knew Bob's Mom and unfortunately, he also knew where this was going.

"Well what's wrong with marriage, with having babies?!"

"Nothing, if you think people should be imprisoned forever!"

"Courtney settling down and living in one place with a person you love isn't a prison! It's normal!" Carol charged, jumping in both to defend Martha and to restate her point.

"Carol." Courtney reminded, standing up now to face the tall redhead. Ellen watched this escalation, alarmed. "Remember, normal is a judging word. It's like they say in New Guinea…"

"Judging! Courtney, haven't you ever thought that maybe you're doing a little bit of judging yourself! You're judging the man you claim to love for crying out loud!"

Jerry's eyes grew huge when she said this and he wished she wouldn't have. He didn't care if he was being judged, he just wanted to follow Courtney to the edge of the earth…and he knew Carol and Bob and everybody else didn't get that. Soon the discussion between the two women dissolved into a screaming match, one which had to be broken up by their significant others before nurses came and removed them from the waiting room.

"Mom. You're right. Nothing's wrong with it." Ellen said, shooting Courtney an annoyed glare. "But it's something Howard and I will decide together when the time is right for us."

"Yeah like Bob and Emily did." Howard followed. Ellen rolled her eyes. She sure hoped their decision, whatever it was, would be nothing like Bob and Emily's because theirs was a train wreck.

"Look." Courtney followed. "I'm just saying it's not for everybody. Right Jerry?"

Jerry didn't really know what to say. He was going to follow her to the edge of the earth anyway, but he couldn't help but notice the way Carol was looking at him, it was as if she was pressuring him to do the right thing and stand up for his own desires in life. Deep down he knew she was right. He didn't have to give up everything for her.

"Hey, what are you guys talking about?" Mr. Carlin asked as he walked back into the waiting area, his mouth totally full. He'd been gone all this time in search of a candy bar.

"Who are you again, and why are you even here?" Martha asked, not really knowing why it was that this strange man was attending her grandchild's birth.

"Carlin, Elliot. Real Estate." He said in between bites.

"He's been Bob's patient for how long again Elliot?" Carol asked.

"Sixteen years." He muttered in between bites.

"And I guess you could say he's a friend." Howard said.

"Kind of." Jerry muttered.

"So you're here bec…."

"I'm here because of the Elliot Carlin Memorial," Ellen wondered why he said memorial, clearly he wasn't dead, "scholarship fund: my therapy bills have probably already paid for the kid's college, so why shouldn't I be here for the birth?"

"There, there, almost through Emily. Almost through. Don't scream, just breathe with me, breathe with me baby, it's okay."

"Ooh. Ouch!" Emily groaned, collapsing into her pillows and letting out a deep breath. She was so glad that contraction had ended.

"Emily, are you okay?" He asked, placing a wet washcloth on her forehead.

"Yeah Bob, as okay as I can be. Ooh!"

"Honey, I'm sorry it hurts so bad." He consoled, tightening his grip on her hand as she exhaled.

"That's okay sweetie, because, you know that thing that happens in order to get pregnant in the first place?" She asked.

"Yeah…" He hesitated.

"Well we're never doing it again."

"Oh…great."

On the inside he was worried to death about both of them. He hadn't thought about the pain until now, even though he'd spent almost three months in a Lamaze class that dealt almost exclusively with the subject. It was really wigging him out. And then there were his own nerves. He could barely stand to sit there and comfort her when he thought he was going to pass out, and nothing had even really happened yet. Little did he know, he was doing an outstanding job at helping her through this...at least in a physical sense.

"Bob maybe you were right." She considered.

"About what?" He asked. It was a little late to take it back, now that it was almost born…wasn't it?

"The idea that we needed a few more days. We don't have a name yet, remember? That's what we were going to do tonight, talk about a name for the baby." She was very upset about this.

"I know." He said. "How about Emily?"

"Oh Bob that's silly we can't name her Emily."

"Well I like it, I think it's a beautiful name. And I already love somebody with that name very much." He added. She smiled at this.

She was still upset about what she'd asked him in the restaurant. She'd wanted total honesty about how he felt about the baby and he'd not given it to her. Somehow, his letting her know that he adored her hurt more.

"Aren't you even a little excited? Baby could look like you, you know." She offered. Bob was perplexed at this; he'd never even given that concept a second thought. She was right. The baby could look like him.

"Bob I…in the restaurant you were about to let me know how you really feel about our baby…and why. I needed you, why didn't you plan with me? Why didn't you get excited with me? How come you never even realized that it was going to look like us? It should've mattered to you that I was so happy." She said. He looked down at her and it hurt him that she hurt. She was very obviously distraught.

"Well Emily, I've had a hard time phrasing it until, until now, but…"

"Urggggg! Oh Bob, ouch it's starting again! Ah!" She began her breathing and was mad that it began again so soon, just in time of course, to interrupt Bob's explanation, as always.

"You know what this means sweetheart?! You're really close, you're like two minutes apart!" He burst.

Bob wanted to faint when he said this. He'd thought they'd have considerable time once they got to the hospital, but when they'd arrived it had all started to go very quickly, but at least very well so far.

"Aghhhhhh! Ah…"

"Emily try not to scream!"

"Fine I won't scream I'll yell: I hate you!" She growled. He knew she didn't really mean it; after all, she had his hands in a death grip. He couldn't imagine how much this was hurting. "Why did you do this to me you stupid jerk! And ignore me on top of it!"

Emily was right: he was a jerk.

"Punch me!"

"What?!"

"Come on Emily, right here, right in the chest, as hard as you can. Punch me."

Emily let go of his hand and slugged him in the chest as hard as she could. She wanted him to feel the type of pain she was enduring. And by the way he was moaning, she thought she'd come as close as the possibly could've. Bob had hardly been prepared for this. He had no idea she could punch like that and he was in total agony.

"Ow! Emily that really hurt!"

"Tough! Ahhhh!"

"Emily, I-I'm really sorry!"

"Get out of here!"

"What?!"

"You heard me, get out!"

Her contraction was over now and she was too upset to hear anything about his pathetic reasoning's for not wanting to become a Dad. Especially since she was sure that it would be only an hour or so before that transpired. If he hadn't changed his tune by now, then tough, deal with it. It wasn't like becoming a Mom was a picnic for her at the moment either. Emily was so mad at him that she was looking for something to throw at his head. Something that would hurt and possibly shatter at impact.

"Fine. If you really want me to leave, Emily, I'll go." He got up and walked toward the door, stopping once to look back at her. She just laid her head back and didn't glance back over at him. He sighed and continued out the door. "Emily are you sure that…"

"Get me Ellen or Carol or anybody even Howard. Just not you!"

Bob didn't think he'd ever felt so completely dejected in his life. He turned around once again. It was about time he checked on everybody in the waiting room anyway. He was sure several of them had probably almost killed each other by then, namely Ellen and his Mom and Carol and Courtney.

"Ah! Bob!" She cried out, suddenly sounding as if she were pleading for him to stay.

"What?" He turned around to face her again, and she was crying.

Clearly the pain was beginning again and he decided that he wasn't leaving no matter what she wanted to throw at his head.

"Bob, I think I'm almost there, even if you want to go please don't I'm too scared." In a weird way she was also jealous of him, his mother was just down the hall and she sure wished hers was.

"Emily, I'm not leaving even if you want me too. I told you before, we're in this together."

"Well…ahhhhh…you don't act like it so, quick, while I'm in agony, tell me what you were going to tell me in the restaurant."

"It's simple Emily."

"Ahhhhh!"

"I'm crazy about you. I was like Ellen. I didn't really want to get married."

"Ahhhhh!"

"Until I realized I couldn't live without you. And I don't want anyone or

anything to change the relationship we have. It means everything to me. And a baby, well it's going to change everything."

"Did you ever think that maybe it would just tie us together forever?" She inquired. He hadn't really thought about that and it gave him considerable pause. "Bob."

"Hum?"

"I think you better go and get me a nurse now, it's time."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6-

"Anybody hungry?" Howard inquired.

"We all are Howard." Jerry explained.

The waiting room had grown quiet. It wasn't as if its inhabitants weren't still mad at each other, in fact, they were seething. But the combination of being hungry, tired and restless had also made them battle weary.

"Shouldn't the kid have popped out already?" Carlin asked, looking at his watch. He was growing impatient with the whole thing and had had no idea that it took so many hours to have a baby in the first place.

"It's been almost four hours, why haven't we heard anything?" Larry asked. "I'm concerned as well, but it is her first and they do tend to take much

longer," Martha voiced her concern. "For example, Bob is my oldest and he took almost twenty four hours…"

"Gee, I hope you never told Emily that." Ellen said bluntly.

"Well of course I did! At the baby shower, but you weren't able to come to that…and then you only took six hours."

"Wait." Carlin began, "Are you telling me we could be here all night?"

"Of course!" Courtney burst. "Why do you think so many people still have babies at home? I mean who would want to welcome a new life into the world in this cold, clinical environment? If it were me," she considered, "I'd rather have my baby some place tranquil, outdoors by the ocean. Possibly even in the ocean."

"The ocean?" Jerry asked, he thought this was a bit strange and presented its self to also be somewhat dangerous, he was, after all, a man of medicine…in a sense.

"Well yes, it's natural, and what mother earth intends!" Courtney reminded, causing the other three women and Mr. Carlin to raise an eyebrow. "Being born in a hospital is traumatic for the baby, and being born in the water is like never leaving the womb!"

"Hey, the kid's got to come to terms with it sometime." Carlin reminded.

Over the last few hours, Mr. Carlin had sat there, eaten six Snicker's bars and mostly watched the other's argue. The main thing he'd gathered from his time with them was that this Courtney chick was loony and probably needed to get serious psychological help. If he thought he needed therapy…this was a horse of a different color, so to speak.

"I was born at home." Howard offered.

"You were?" Ellen thought this was intriguing.

"Yeah, it's an interesting story. It went great: only my Dad was kind of nervous and dropped me on my head. Did the same thing to my brother Gordon." Martha hoped that Howard wouldn't drop any of her grandchildren on their heads.

"Oh you poor thing!" Ellen soothed, kissing the side of his head.

"Wait, so you're meaning to tell me that if you ever had a child, you'd have it outside?" Jerry asked Courtney, he couldn't get over this because he thought it was crazy. Neither could Carol, she was hoping that perhaps this argument would cause Jerry to realize that he was running off with a nut.

"Well sure." She laughed. "Jerry, you know I don't really believe in modern, western medicine."

"Then how come we decided to go to a place where I could practice dentistry?!" He couldn't stand the thought that she didn't respect his beloved profession.

"Because it's important to you." She said, "And because dentistry's different…"

"Different?"

"Well, it's really more about cleanliness than about western medicine's manipulation of…" she trailed off when she saw the upset look on Jerry's face. The others tuned in as if they were watching a soap, accept for Larry who was scoffing at a travel magazine he'd been looking through for more than an hour, "Look Jerry, it's not like real medicine where…"

"Are you saying what I do isn't real?" He thought everything she had said sounded like a knock at orthodontia.

"Well I…"

"Courtney I'm sorry, I, I need some time to think about this. I'm going to go and get a snack or, or something I'll see you later." Jerry got up and walked down the hall without another word.

"Jerry wait!" Carol called, quickly following him.

"What did I do?" Courtney seemed hurt and confused.

"Would you look at this?!" Larry was outraged as well and showed Courtney the page he was looking at in the same travel magazine that had had his attention for over the past hour. "Ten days in Tahiti, $6,000, what a rip off!"

Courtney and Larry then began to argue over the best way to see Tahiti, a country she and Jerry had been to together in the past.

"What say you and I go for a walk too?" Howard asked Ellen, "I really need to stretch my legs."

"Sure that sounds nice." She took his arm and they left, walking down the opposite hall away from the vending machines and toward the nursery, leaving Martha pretty much alone with Mr. Carlin.

….

"Jerr, are you okay?" Carol asked, finally catching up with him. He punched the vending machine when she said this. It had given him his bag of chips, but had decided to hold his $4.50 in change hostage.

"I don't know anymore Carol, I…I need something new, a fresh start. And I love her but…she can be so…."

"Stubborn, pig-headed, insulting…"

"Well now I know how you feel about her."

"Jerry she's such a mismatch with you…I don't think there's much else in the world you love more than being an orthodontist…"

"No. I love what I do, and Carol, I love you…"

"Jerry, I'm married!"

"No." He laughed. "Like a brother loves a sister. I never had one of those either, but you and Bob and Emily and everybody, make me feel like I have family."

"We love you too Jerr and we don't want you to make a mistake you'll regret. Please think about this."

"I respect your opinion and I know Bob's not happy about me and Courtney, and neither is Emily, the world's worst match-maker…." Carol laughed when he said this. "But she's the one girlfriend that always comes back. And you know what they say, if you love something let it go, if it comes back, that's how you know…and I've let her go before and every time it breaks my heart, but she always comes back…it's time for me to move on, why should I let her go again when I know that she's the one." Carol was stumped at this. That bombastic hippy was the one who he was going to call _the one_? "Look. Nothing's perfect. Even Bob and Emily, who seem so perfect, don't have everything right. Here he is about to become a father and he doesn't want to be. I can always break up with my girlfriend and move back home but he's always going to be a Dad now. And besides, we leave tonight. There's just not much I can do at this point. All the arrangements have been made, I've dissolved my practice and I'm kind of looking forward to seeing Asia. So like with Bob, it's too late too take it back….Same thing goes for you too Carol." He reminded, patting Carol on the shoulder and leaving her at the vending machine.

She was stunned and couldn't say anything. His explanation reminded her of her own situation and she knew he intended for it to. She wasn't sure still, despite everyone's enthusiastic reassurance, if she wanted to give up her job. Despite the fact that she knew Courtney wasn't the greatest, had she just been trying to get Jerry to stay at the office so that she could stay too? She thought, that she was better than that. Was she no different than Bob and just afraid of the new challenge and the change in her life?

….

"Awe, Ellen, look! Babies!" Howard was excited that their walk had brought them to the nursery where you could look in through the big glass window and observe all the new little people.

"Well Howard, we are in the maternity ward. Howard? What's wrong?" She asked, he was staring into the room and he looked like he was going to cry, suddenly he smiled.

"See that one, right there, second row, blue blanket…no hair…he looks just like my little guy, my Howie."

"Oh Howard. That's why I love you, you're so sweet. How is Howie?" She asked, she hadn't seen the boy, who would eventually be her stepson. in over a year.

"He's grown up a lot….he's going to his first death metal concert tonight." Ellen laughed at this, finding the difference between that thought and the newborn boy a few feet a way from them to be nothing short of hilarious.

"Howard…do you really want more children?" She asked.

"Actually, I was kind of thinking we could do what Jerry and Courtney are going to do…"

"Oh no. Look Howard, if I ever have a baby, it's going to be in a hospital…probably this one, and under general anesthesia, not in an ocean, or a bathtub or…"

"No, no." He laughed. "I was thinking that we could travel you know…like we did last night."

"Oh!" She smiled. "Howard, how would your airline feel about your being based in Paris?" She asked flirtatiously.

"I'd say my airline would probably say live happily ever after." He replied as they kissed.

…

"Hour five." Bob said, watching the clock strike six o'clock. Emily had been very wrong about it "being time" two hours earlier.

"Don't remind me." She groaned, sitting up, she'd been laying back in her pillows, having finally learned to relax through her contractions instead of scream the entire time. "This is killing me. Bob, I'm going to die."

"No you're not, Emily, you're being silly." He said, kissing her forehead softly. She was thrilled that they were finally getting along. It was as though she was finally at peace enough to give birth, even though she was enduring hell. "I'm here with you Emily, and I'm not leaving and you really are getting closer."

"Well yeah, we're getting closer…and we don't have a name yet!"

"I know, and I'm sorry Emily….didn't you plan anything?"

"Well…I did have one thing in mind." She began, smiling suddenly.

"What was it?"

"Well look whose here!" Bob and Emily froze when they heard a familiar, yet daunting voice. It was the couple they couldn't stand….Thad and Darlene, and apparently they were getting the bed next to Emily's, which until now, had been unoccupied.

"Emily…are we really that unlucky?" He said softly, only she could hear him. She fell back against her pillows again, almost in defeat as they watched a nurse begin to settle Darlene in.

"What are you doing here?" Thad asked.

"Having a baby, what does it look like we're doing, baking a cake?" Emily barked, grabbing Bob's hand again. "Ah…ahahhhhh!"

"Its okay Emily, it's okay, breathe with me! We can get through another one just as easily as the last one." She smiled at him reassuringly even through her pain.

"Something's different about you guys." Thad observed. But Bob and Emily ignored them.

"Ahhhhhhaaaa!"

"Good job Emily, we almost got through that one without screaming."

"I can't believe we're all here at the same time, experiencing the miracle of childbirth!" Thad enthused.

"Ahhhhhaaaa!"

"Ouch! Ah-ah-ah…ow!" Bob cried. Thad cringed as he watched Emily strangle his hand. Boy that didn't look comfortable.

"Here Thad, give me your hand too, and then you can see feel just how miraculous it is!" Emily cried, "ahhhhhhh!"

"No, uh…no thanks guys." He said. Emily's contraction ended just then. Bob kissed her forehead and got up to close the curtain that divided to two beds in order to give her more privacy as a nurse had come in to see her.

"Y-you'll have to forgive her. I think she's just about to deliver." Bob said. He noted that the sound of Emily's last scream truly alarmed the young yuppie couple and while he couldn't deny that he found it kind of funny he also found it necessary to comfort them a little…he wasn't that much of a jerk.

"Your hand, isn't it broken?" Thad inquired.

"No, it's okay, but you know…the miracle of birth, that's what it feels like… isn't it fantastic?" He laughed, going back on the other side of the curtain and leaving Thad and Darlene a little shaken. "What did the nurse say Emily?" He asked, changing his tone and sitting back down next to his wife.

"She said it's time Bob."

"W-what?" When she said this, nerves began to overwhelm him again in a way they hadn't in hours and he thought he was going to faint.

"I know, it's finally time to meet our baby, can you believe it!" She exclaimed. He found it weird that she seemed excited.

"No, no, I…I can't believe it." He wanted, in the worst way, to run away now, but kept running his fingers through her hair.

"Thank you for staying with me Bob. I'm scared."

"I'm right here and you don't have a thing to worry about."

…

"Well, at least we got that pesky hunger thing taken care of!" Carol said.

They had gotten fed up and had decided to order pizza while waiting for Emily's baby.

"Hungry is one thing." Martha said, "but what about tired?"

"And getting impatient." Howard added.

"Hi guys." They all looked up when they heard Bob greet them.

"Bob!" Jerry exclaimed.

"So, did it happen am I an Uncle?!" Howard asked.

"Yes Howard, you're an Uncle. Come on guys, you can all come and see her."

"Her?" Carol questioned.

"Oh it's a girl!" Ellen was excited.

"A baby girl!" Howard was excited.

"It's a damn girl!" Martha was obviously disappointed by this news. Bob laughed to himself, realizing the irony in the fact that his Dad would be much happier at the news that it was a girl.

"Gee, I think I remember the first time I heard her say that." Ellen said to Howard.

"Oh, when?" He, in all these months, hadn't been aware that Martha didn't want Emily to have a girl.

"I think it was five minutes after I was born." She said.

"Yes, she's a girl." Bob confirmed.

"See, a girl, it's what you wanted, isn't it Bob?" Jerry whispered to Bob as they were all walking back to see Emily.

"Yeah it is."

"Hi everybody." Emily smiled as best she could. She was tired and sore and very groggy but trying to get along, they had after all, waited six hours to see them.

Bob watched as everyone finally got to see the baby. He had still wanted to run away, up until the very last minute of the birth. But his daughter's first cry had changed everything for him. He never would've guessed that the sound and sight of her coming to life would catapult him headfirst into fatherhood and make him fall deeply in love in a way he'd never been before. And then before could blink there was a baby in his arms. He was wowed. He supposed that watching a person be born changed your relationship to them, watching his daughter take her first breath was overwhelming. And once she was unwittingly placed in his arms he was glued.

"Oh Emily, she's beautiful." Carol complimented.

"But who are we meeting?" Ellen added.

Emily took notice of how close she and Howard were acting: she sure hoped they'd worked things out. Howard held Ellen, his arms wrapped around her now and they both seemed so happy.

"This is...we don't know who this is." Bob introduced. The brand new baby had her eyes shut and didn't seem to notice or care about the room full of people.

"She's either Maggie, or Gracie or Molly…we can't decide." Emily informed.

"She's so cute! Can I hold her!?" Howard burst.

Bob and Emily exchanged glances, they were hesitant to let the clumsy Howard hold their newborn baby, especially Emily, who remembered the story about Howard being dropped on his head as a newborn, and didn't want that repeated with her daughter.

"Okay Howard, you can be the first." Bob decided. Emily nodded and allowed Howard to take the baby in his arms.

"Two hands!" Bob and Emily yelled simultaneously.

"Oh, she's sweet!" Howard observed as Ellen watched over his shoulder. The baby yawned; she was comfortable in his arms.

"Here Howard, let Auntie see her." Ellen said.

"Uh Howard…did you uh, get the check at the restaurant?" Bob questioned as soon as his baby was safely out of his clumsy arms.

"Sure Bob….why'd you pin it on me though?"

"Let's just say I knew you were good for it Howard." Bob winked, patting him on the shoulder.

"She's beautiful Emily." Jerry complimented, laying the baby back in her arms.

"Thank you Jerry." She said as he leaned down to hug her good-bye.

"Well I guess this is good bye Bob." Jerry said. Bob smiled bitter sweetly, walking outside the room with his best friend and Courtney. Courtney smiled and waved at Bob and excused herself, going back to the waiting room, to give the two men, who were so close, some privacy.

Without a word, Jerry hugged Bob.

"Are you sure your-your doing the right thing?" Bob wanted to make sure.

"Yeah, uh. I am. I'm sure."

"Okay. Thanks for, for staying this whole time just to see my daughter, it being the night you're leaving and all."

"Bob, I love you and Emily, you know there's no where else I rather would've been then waiting to meet your baby. And don't worry. I'll be back. I'll have to come and see her before she does something rash like graduate from high school or something." Bob laughed at this.

"Make that before she's talking."

"It's a deal." The two hugged again, which made Bob, feel especially awkward.

"I guess I better be going."

"Yeah. I guess you'd better."

"Tell Emily congratulations. I didn't get to do that."

"I will." Bob said as Jerry began walking back toward the waiting room.

"Bob." He turned to see Jerry call. "You're going to be a great Dad."

"Thanks Jerry." He smiled, and then walked back into his wife's room. They would be glad to tell you it was a new single room, far away from Thad and Darlene.

Bob sat on the edge of Emily's bed and they kissed.

"Happy Anniversary Emily."

"You too sweetheart. See I told you this would be a neat way to spend our anniversary."

"Yeah, it has been. Oh no."

"What?" She asked.

"Emily, with everything that was going on, with Jerry, Carol's new career, with them," he pointed to Howard and Ellen, "and least of all to say the whole we're having a baby any day thing…I forgot to submit our tax returns."


	7. Chapter 7 Happy Trails to You

Ch 7- Happy Trails to You

"Wow I…I really didn't think I was going to love you this much. But you're amazing." Bob smiled, looking down at the baby in his arms. She gazed back up at him with wide blue eyes that were much like both his and Emily's, kind of somewhere in-between theirs in tone.

It had been two weeks since the baby was born and today was their last day in Chicago. They would leave just as soon as Howard, Ellen and Carol arrived to help them down to the car and say good bye. Bob surveyed their apartment, which was in disarray. There were boxes everywhere, filled to the brim with their stuff. All the art was off the walls, and their luggage was by the door.

"Wow I can't believe this is happening…can you?" He asked the newborn.

This was all bittersweet for Bob. He knew he was really going to miss the life he and Emily had made in Chicago. But looking down into his daughter's eyes made him stay positive. He hadn't embraced the baby and he loved her more than he ever thought possible. Maybe he was being too reluctant about the move as well.

"Are you ready Bob?" Emily asked, coming out of their bedroom and into their living room one last time.

"Yeah, I, I think so."

"What about the baby?" She asked.

"As ready as a two week old could be honey. What about you?" He asked, noting that she was sniffling.

"Oh I don't know, I…the goodbye party at school was so sweet and so sad." She said, speaking of the going away party that she and the baby had just come back from. "The kids made me a good bye book. And everybody got the baby a present and it's just, I kind of wish I didn't have to go."

"I know me too. But it's like you said to me Emily: you said you'd change with me." He reminded her of what he'd really said before they got married. She smiled at this and hugged him, joining him in looking down at their daughter.

"Thank you for changing with me Bob." She smiled, taking the baby in her arms.

"I'm glad that I did." He smiled back, kissing her cheek.

"Oh she's so tiny! Bob isn't it amazing, you know, now that you like her…"

"Love her."

"Now that you love her, isn't it amazing, looking back at how much we wanted one…five, six years ago."

"Well yeah…I think maybe that's one of the reasons I was so…reluctant about this, I guess I just thought that you know, it was never going to happen and I got used to it just being the two of us, then all of a sudden you were pregnant and I got jealous because like I told you I thought we were just going to be alone for the rest of our lives."

"Yeah, but isn't she so much better than being alone forever?" Emily asked as someone knocked on their door. Bob went to answer it.

"Let's just say…I'm glad we got one from a kit." He offered, causing Emily to laugh. "Hi Carol." He greeted, opening the door.

"Hi Bob, Emily…oh I can't believe you're leaving."

"Neither can we." Emily confessed.

"So, do you guys know where you're going to live yet?" She inquired.

"We've rented a place Carol." Bob reminded.

"Really, because there is this cute little house not to far from..." Bob shook his head disapprovingly at her sales pitch.

"Well, I had to try." She said.

"I see you're getting to like your new profession." Emily accessed.

"I am…but I'll miss the office and Jerry and you guys…and getting to know the baby. I had really been looking forward to being Aunt Carol."

"Oh honey you still are." Emily hugged Carol as she continued to cry.

And that was another thing, Emily felt guilty about the baby being separated from so many people who loved her, like Howard, Ellen, Carol and Bob's parents. Martha had warmed considerably to the infant girl in the past two weeks. Like her son, holding the baby for the first time changed her perspective. And it wasn't as though moving to Oregon made them that much closer to her parents in Seattle: now the driving distance between them was farther than the flying time would've been had they never moved.

"Emily, this is supposed to be exciting, you don't have to cry." Bob reminded. He certainly didn't want to drive across country with a woman who was miserable and didn't really want to go in the first place.

"Yes I do." Emily said, beginning to tuck the baby in her car seat.

"You know she's right Bob." Carol informed.

"Hi guys." Howard said, coming in the front door, totally unannounced as always.

He was trying hard to act nonchalant but on the inside he was crushed by Bob and Emily's decision to move away and he was on the brink of not being able to hold it together. Ellen, who had finally moved in downstairs, came in behind him and was doing her best to be supportive of Howard even though she was also upset by the move.

"Oh Howard!" Emily cried. "I'm going to miss you doing that."

"Me too." He started crying now. Ellen rubbed his back consolingly and Bob rolled his eyes. "It's not the same thing as walking into Ben and Karen's apartment."

"Who are Ben and Karen?" Bob raised an eyebrow.

"The couple that live next door, in your old apartment." Ellen informed. "They don't like it too much when Howard just walks in." Personally she wouldn't either.

"It's already not the same without you guys around."

"Yeah." Carol added sadly.

"But." Ellen began, noting they were making Bob and Emily feel bad. "On that same note, we hope you'll be very happy and that you'll come visit."

"A lot!" Howard added.

"Yeah. Come home for Thanksgiving, okay? Jerry's coming too." Carol pressed them to agree.

"We'll try." Bob comforted.

"And that you come back for the Wedding!" Howard burst.

"Wedding?" Emily smiled. She knew her matchmaking would result in another marriage and soon she could just feel it!

"No, uh we're engaged, just no date." Ellen clarified.

She wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible but she had promised herself she wasn't leaving Howard again regardless. Being the runaway bride was only cute so many times and she knew the next time, which would be her third, would just be pathetic: it was time for her to settle down: well sort of. At the very least, she could no longer deny that Howard was the right one.

"But we do have some real news of our own." Ellen was truly ecstatic about it and it showed by the way she smiled.

She took Howard's hand in her own and squeezed it. Emily could tell he was bursting with excitement as well and Emily couldn't place what could possibly make them both so jubilant.

"Are you ready?" Howard asked excitedly.

"We're ready Howard." Bob replied. He thought it might be about moving or a new apartment or something.

"Are you sure?!" Howard asked again.

"We're sure Howard." Carol told him.

"We're moving to Paris!" Ellen exclaimed.

"France!" Emily was jealous.

She wanted to move to Paris….not Oregon. They hadn't even gotten to go to France, and she'd been willing to fly and see that French psychologist that had visited them a couple of years ago, if she really had to, and everything…

"I'm jealous." Carol admitted. "You excited?"

"Over the moon." Howard told them.

"I love Paris." Bob could tell Ellen was more in love with the idea of moving to Paris than she was with the man who was taking her there and laughed to himself about it.

"Why are you going?" Carol asked. She wanted to remind them that she could sell real estate internationally.

"To live life." Ellen laughed blithely. She thought it was the writer's response.

Bob contemplated the obvious change in his sister's demeanor for a second. It wasn't men that was her problem, or her career…he couldn't believe that it took him until now to recognize the fact that his sister's soul was completely stifled in Chicago, and Cleveland. He hadn't seen her this optimistic about anything in years.

"That sounds perfect Ellen." Emily smiled, having just come to the same realization as Bob.

"What will you do there?" Carol was curious.

"Well write." Ellen said simply, as if there could be no other answer.

"And go to cafes…two or three times a day." Howard added.

"Yeah and paint." Ellen seemed enthusiastic about this as well.

"And fly."

"You're still going to fly?" Emily asked.

"Of course. I love Ellen, and I love Paris…but I love flying too, plus…I've got to see my Howie."

"And we'll be here for Thanksgiving." Ellen added, causing Bob to feel even more pressured into returning in just a few months.

"Fine, fine, we'll be back." He conceded.

"But enough about us…" Howard paused. "Do you really have to go?"

"Yes Howard." Bob answered.

"We have to go." Emily finished.

"As a matter of fact, we should be going…now." Bob hesitated as he looked at his watch. "If we want to make it to Nebraska by midnight."

"Oh Bob, do we really?" Emily asked. Bob nodded.

"Oh we hate to see you go." Carol hugged Emily again as she picked the baby carrier up.

"Oh we hate to go." Emily cried. Bob hated to go too but decided that getting out of there now and feeling sad later would be an easier coping mechanism for him than getting upset with everybody else.

"Bob, Emily. Little baby niece…" Ellen smiled looking down at the half asleep baby and taking her tiny hand for a moment, "call us okay."

"Yeah, even though they're going to be international calls now." Ellen elbowed Howard in the ribs as he reminded them of this and Carol laughed.

"W-we'll call anyway." Bob promised.

"Bob, Emily, all three of us talked and we all realized that…we don't want you to go, but we want you to be happy," Carol began, "And so, we all want to thank you so much for what you've done for us."

"What we've done for you?" Emily asked. What had they done…other than practically parent Howard for several years.

"Yeah." Ellen said. "You're the best big brother anybody could ever ask for Bob, and I love you. And without you guys, I would've never found Howard."

"Well maybe not Ellen…I fly remember, I do meet lots of girls tha….oh yeah." He said, understanding the point again when Ellen glared at him for lousing up what she'd been attempting to say.

"Thank you both for helping me see so much about myself. I love you both." Ellen hugged Bob and Emily, and kissed her brother's cheek. Bob wanted to cry at this, she was his only sister but he secretly also preferred her to their other brother and was glad to know she felt the same about him.

"We love you too." He said. Ellen grabbed a couple of Bob and Emily's bags and smiling, headed out the door on the way to the car.

"I've got to agree with that Bob. Thanks for being the best boss I could've asked for. And Emily one of the best friends…and both of you for helping me grow and change and discover who I am." Carol was crying.

"Oh sweetie. It's alright." Emily comforted, hugging Carol.

"And we promise, we'll come back." Bob promised. He wasn't going to say much more but he knew she realized he'd miss her very much too.

"You guys are the greatest friends." Carol continued crying as she grabbed a couple of bags and followed Ellen down the hall.

"What am I supposed to say." Howard began. Who knew he'd stay the longest. "I mean…you're my best friends! You helped me find love again!...get me back on my feet…feed me every night…you took care of me…I would say thanks for everything, all the dinners, all the stuff I borrowed…including your sister Bob…but I'm keeping her." Emily giggled at this.

"What can you say Howard." Bob said jokingly. He thought he got the point and that his rambling words were thanks enough for all that they'd done. He and Emily really did love Howard, even if he could be a pest, he was no real trouble to them.

"I know what I can say, don't leave me!" Howard cried, clinging to Bob and Emily and taking them greatly by surprise. "No, no, that wouldn't be right…it's time for me to move on and you to move on…here Bob, I'll take the rest of the bags for everything you've done for me."

"We love you too Howard." Emily said as Howard picked up the rest of the luggage and began to make his way down the hall.

"Well, I guess this is it." Bob said, once he and Emily were alone.  
"Yeah. I guess it is." Emily accessed as they looked around at their nearly bare apartment. "This is weird. I just can't believe it." She commented as she held the baby close. She didn't think moving away from here would be so strange for her but it was.

"I know…Emily."

"Hum?" She asked, she'd gotten lost looking down at the baby's little face. She was sleeping sweetly now, and had no idea of what was going on.

"Are you ready to change with me?" He asked, reaching out for her hand. Emily smiled and accepted his hand in her own readily, squeezing it tightly. She knew she was home anywhere she went with him.

"Oh yes Bob, yes I am." She kissed him.

So, together Bob, Emily and their newborn daughter turned out the light, walked out the door and began the walk toward their new life.


End file.
